George William Curtis (1824 -1892) was an American writer and public speaker, born in Providence, Rhode Island, of New Englander ancestry.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.

Curtis's eloquent prose and thoughtful insights on human nature make this novel a classic example of 19th-century American literature.